74 A. e. OUDEMANS, NOTES ON ACARI. 



Cheletefi erudites (Schrank). One single specimen was brought 

 in a breeding-cell ; it laid eggs, which hatched. All the larvae 

 became nymphae, and these became adults, and he was »much 

 surprised to find that every specimen 1 selected laid eggs, all 

 of which duly hatched.« »I have never been able to detect a 

 male.« »To make sure whether this was really a case of 

 agamic reproduction, I determined to isolate some individuals 

 very carefully, and I obtained the following results.« The 

 securing a succession of three generations, including some 

 accidents, have with we extended over a period of about five 

 months, and I am quite prepared to admit that the proof 

 of agamic reproduction in this acarus would have been more 

 satisfactory if continued through a longer period, but after 

 reading Professor Huxley's paper on the Agamic Reproduction 

 of Aphis, in part of which he states that »in Myriapoda and 

 Arachnida the process is not known«, I have thought that 

 the few facts I have just given were of sufficient value to 

 bring before your notice. < — It is a pitty that Mr. Beck has 

 not continued his breeding-experiences, for then he certainly 

 should have met in autumn with a sudden lot of males ! At 

 all events Beck lias proved that agamic repro- 

 duction took place. 



Then, in 1878, Albert D. Michael tells us (On a species 

 of acarus believed to be new to Britain, in 

 J o u r n. Roy. M i c r. 8 o c, vol. 1, p. 313 — 318) how he 

 succeeded in breeding Ckeyletus ve?iustissiinus C. L. Koch (now 

 Cheletomo7'pha veimstissima (C. L. Koch) ). Let us follow his 

 communications. On the 5tl> of January 1878 he caught a 

 female and put it into a cell. This female died on 29tli of 

 March, but fortunately she had laid eggs which hatched. He 

 now describes the egg, the larva and the nymph. Then he 

 proceeds : »Since the above paper was read 1 have succeeded 

 in finding the male. I continued breedino- the creature in 



